War lace: women, food aid and patriotism during the First World War (1914-1918)

Abstract

Lace has a rich and multifaceted past, and has been used in diverse contexts throughout the centuries: in rites of passage - christenings, weddings and funerals - as well as during times of war. The Phoebus Foundation?s collection includes a fine subcollection of pieces of war lace, all of them depicting patriotic symbols. However, it is now impossible to trace the individuals who drew and produced the designs of the pieces of war lace in The Phoebus Foundation?s collection, or those who bought them. Nonetheless, thanks to these examples of war lace, archive sources and publications, we can reconstruct the extraordinary story of the lace production that took place in the war.